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I am a plant scientist driven by a deep appreciation for the beauty of the natural world. With two bachelor's degrees and a master's in plant science, I earned my Ph.D. in plant pathology from the Department of Biotechnology at Visva-Bhara- University in India, where I studied the fascinating responses of microRNA to viral infections in French beans. After completing my Ph.D., I moved to the USA as an ORISE post-doctoral research scientist. Over the past six years, I have successfully led various projects, including the genetic characterization of pre-harvest sprouting in winter wheat, transcriptomic analysis of a fungal ectosymbiont associated with ambrosia beetle pests, evaluation of growth and physiological resilience in rice under heat and drought stress and soil-borne disease management in pulse crops. My research has delved into plant stress biology in both biotic and abiotic contexts, along with aspects of entomology at USDA-ARS and briefly at MSU. Recently, I joined Dr. Maheshi Dassanayake’s team, where my research is focused on developing innovative biotechnological approaches to manage invasive plant species in response to challenges such as droughts and floods.

I earned my undergraduate degree from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2015. During my undergraduate studies, my thesis project focused on managing diseases in broccoli to improve seed production. Throughout my undergraduate years, I had the opportunity to explore various crop plants like wheat, rice, cauliflower, chili as well as horticulturally important plants like gladiolus. In 2024, I earned a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Louisiana State University where my research focused on leaf development of salt tolerant plant Schrenkiella parvula at different developmental stages using multiomics approaches like transcriptome, metabolome, ionome and different physiological studies to investigate its strategy to manage salt stress at different stage of leaf development. In spring 2025, I joined Dassanayake lab as a Research Associate to further explore Schrenkiella parvula and its relatives from Brassicaceae family at both molecular, transcriptomic and proteomic levels.

After completing my Bachelor's degree at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, I began my Ph.D. journey in fall 2021 under the guidance of Dr. Dassanayake. My research is dedicated to exploring the remarkable adaptability of halophytes to high salt. Despite the considerable phylogenetic differences within the halophyte community, these plants share a common adaptive trait of salt tolerance. Therefore, my project aims to uncover genomic traits that have convergently evolved in >250 extremophytes adapted to high salinity using bioinformatics techniques. Additionally, I am investigating functional responses to high salinity in the model halophyte Schrenkiella parvula, focusing on photosynthesis and responses related to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. This endeavor not only promises to deepen our understanding of halophyte adaptation but also sheds light on broader questions surrounding adaptive mechanisms in response to environmental stress.

I joined Dassanayake’s lab in 2021 Fall for my Ph.D. program. I finished my undergraduate and my MS in Biotechnology at Nong Lam University (NLU), Vietnam. I am interested in creating abiotic stress-tolerant plants, so working in this lab gives me the chance to fulfill my dream. I am currently working on molecular biology techniques like CRISPR to make transgenic/gene-edited lines with salt tolerance traits in two research model plants:  Arabidopsis thaliana, and Schrenkiella parvula.

I joined Dr. Dassanayake’s lab in 2022 Fall as a Ph.D. student. I graduated from LSU with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in geology in 2019. I am helping to pioneer a Planetary Geobiology Ph.D. program here at LSU, where I will be studying how plants grow and adapt to extreme environments with high levels of magnesium, like serpentine soils here on Earth and areas on Mars for future manned missions. I am also co-advised by Dr. Suniti Karunatillake of the Planetary Science Lab in the Geology and Geophysics Department here at LSU.

Before I joined Dr. Dassanayake’s lab in Fall 2022, I had previously worked on agricultural crops such as rice, sorghum, maize and foxtail millet at International Rice Research Institute and LSU-Agricultural Center. I finished my BS in Biology and MS in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of the Philippines. Basically, I have been in plant science research for a while; also, I love plants. Right now, I want to realize my research ideas in understanding plant abiotic stresses for my PhD. Here at Dr. Dassanayake’s lab I will have that opportunity. I will be using brassica extremophyte species using transcriptomic, ionomic and metabolomic studies to understand the physiology, biochemistry and underlying mechanisms of plant abiotic stress tolerance.

I joined Dr. Dassanayake’s lab in the Fall of 2022 as a PhD student. I attained my undergraduate degree at Ohio Wesleyan University in May of 2022. I also completed work at the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell for an REU. In the Dassanayake lab, I am working with the halophytes Schrenkiella parvula and Eutrema salsaginium which are considered the experts at adapting to extreme environments such as soil with high salt and low essential nutrients like phosphorus. These stresses have been studied respectively, but often in nature these types of abiotic stresses occur at the same time. Studying extremophyte plants under these conditions  will give insight into how plants are adapted to high salt and low phosphorus conditions combined. I am using a plethora of transcriptomic tools to understand these two extremophytes' responses to complex stresses, and also studying physiological responses to the combined and singular stresses.

I am a Biochemistry major minoring in Physics who joined Dr. Dassanayake’s lab in early 2021 as I found the transformation research they were doing really interesting. Since then I’ve been phenotyping the species Schrenkiella parvula, Eutrema salsugineum, and Arabidopsis thaliana when exposed to different concentrations of Na+.

My name is Nicole Bisente, I joined the Dassanayake lab in the summer of 2024 as a post-baccalaureate scholar through the Louisiana Graduate Network in Applied Evolution (LAGNiAppE) program. I received my Bachelor’s in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from California State University, Northridge. In the Dassanayake lab, I’m investigating how long-term salt stress effects the photosynthetic processes in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Hi! My name is Sylvie and I'm a Biology major in the LSU Ogden Honors College with a double minor in Philosophy and Sociology. My biggest reason for joining Dr. Dassanayake's lab is my interest in genetics, as well as having the opportunity to gain neat experience in research. After completing my undergraduate studies, my goal is to get into graduate school so I can continue to study subjects in the field of genetics. In my free time, I really enjoy spending time with my friends, binge watching shows or movies, and occasionally trying to teach myself how to cook.

My name is Luke Guidry, and I am a biochemistry major who joined Dr. Dassanayake’s lab in Spring 2023. My main reason for becoming a part of Dassanayake’s lab was my interest in the mechanisms of gene expression, and how environmental factors can affect this expression. After I graduate, I hope to go onto medical school and become a physician.

Through the LSU Explorers’ Program, I joined Dassanayake’s lab in 2023 Fall. I joined research because I wanted to gain experience working in a lab, expand upon my skills, and gather new opportunities at LSU. As a biology major in Pre-Health, I am always interested in science, hoping to foster more interest in various topics. Through Dassanayake’s lab, I am especially excited to collaborate with a team on research that is finding ways to protect food from the rising dangers of environmental stresses. Outside of school, I really love reading, watching movies, and crocheting.

I am an undergraduate majoring in biology here at LSU. The main reason I joined Dr. Dassanayake's lab in the fall of 2023 is to broaden my knowledge of genomics and gain useful research experience for the future. After college I plan on attending medical school and becoming a physician.